Gliederung

The Science Media Centre (SMC) in the UK has initiated "Before the Headlines" [1], a new service for busy science journalists who would like to report the results of a new scientific study in tomorrow’s newspaper.

This initiative aims to improve the quality of science media reporting by offering rapid statistical analysis of a scientific study, usually not an option for busy journalists. The analysis helps journalists quickly assess what conclusions can legitimately be drawn from the research and give greater context to a story. Journalists receive rapid independent statistical reviews of scientific papers and insight into how investigations were carried out and interpreted, including critiques of the authors' own conclusions, at a glance.

To provide this service, the SMC have brought together a group of volunteer statisticians who are members of the Statisticians in the Pharmaceutical Industry (PSI) or the Royal Statistical Society (RSS).

Individual members of the group are asked to review a paper within the embargo time of a press release, often within 24 hours. Journalists receive a clear summary of what the paper in question claims and a concise assessment of its strengths and limitations. SMC envisage that the group will review one study per week, depending on the availability of new epidemiological studies.

The group is already having some success, with positive responses from science journalists on the impact the review made, and at one occasion also resulting in a press release being re-written to ensure it reflected the results of a study more accurately.